Squeals of delight echo across the school yard as students of Sacred Heart Elementary in Ladner harvest their own nugget potatoes.
Two of the classes at the private school participate in Spuds in Tubs, a program, run by the BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation (BCAITC). Spuds in Tubs provides classrooms with the tools and instructions to grow their own potatoes right in the classroom.
Classes enrolled in the program start by planting the seed potatoes in tubs of soil and tend them until they are ready to be harvested.
Now in 293 classrooms, Spuds in Tubs is in schools all over the province, including remote locations such as Haida Gwaii and Prince Rupert. Over 7,500 students and their teachers will be harvesting their potatoes this month with a “Harvest Party” celebration.
“I’ve never heard so much squealing during the harvest”, laughed Dale Maingot, a grade 4 teacher at Sacred Heart Elementary. “We have had such a positive reaction from students on this program. Last year a few of our students loved the Spuds in Tubs experience so much, they got their parents to put in gardens at their homes, so they could grow their own.”
Maingot has been participating in the program since 2011, and always combines class activities with Jennifer Hopson’s, another grade 4 teacher on Spuds in Tubs at the school.
“It’s something that fits in so well with the curriculum, and it especially coincides well with our location here in Ladner. All you have to do is look out the classroom window to see potato fields, which we can compare to the crops we’re growing in tubs.”
After harvesting the potatoes, the students enjoyed the end result of their labour - a “potato sundae” (with toppings of sour cream and chives) cooked up by parents and teachers at the school.
“It’s a great way to end the year for the students”, said Maingot. “They get to enjoy the end result of something they’ve been growing and tending to all spring.”
Spuds in Tubs is sponsored by the BC Potato and Vegetable Growers Association and W&A Farms Inc. and supported by local garden centres. The program is managed by the BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation, a registered non-profit dedicated to “working to bring BC’s agriculture to our students.”
For more information, please visit www.aitc.ca/bc.
Emma Sweeney is the communications coordinator and founder of the BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation.
